Judge Kazuharu Makino, the supervising judge of criminal courts, expects Orange County Superior Court to top a record set in 2003 for most felony trials in a calendar year.
     Judges in that year presided over 456 felony trials. Makino said if judges complete just 25 trials in November and December, they will break that record. Makino said the county could approach 500 trials by the end of the year.
     The reasons? Makino said a lot of circumstances come into play, including the filing of more multiple defendant gang cases – the hardest kind of case to dispose of with settlements before trial.
      Makino also said there are currently 1,289 felony cases pending in Orange County – the highest total during his 22 months as supervising judge of the criminal calendar.

–Larry Welborn

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